“Hi, I'm Ember Abiss, it's nice to meet y’all, I’m not certain how much Thorn has already told you about me but, for team management purposes, y'all can consider me a utility and support mage?” Ember said nervously while she glanced over to Thorn for assurance on her role description.

  “Yep, that is all I felt comfortable sharing without you being here. I know I wouldn't want anyone talking about my skills and stats behind my back with people I don’t even know.” Thorn replied with a smile. He then turned to the three newcomers with the same smile. “Now that we are all present though, how do you all feel about starting the discussion over role coverage?”

  A taller than average tan skinned girl with long sleek black hair and vibrant sea green eyes straightened up in her chair, she shifted her focus between Ember and Thorn before she decided to level her gaze with Ember. But her focus was once again stolen by the unique lilac and grey coloration of Ember's irises. She shook her head to regain focus. “Hello… Lady Abiss?” She said nervously, sounding more like a question than a greeting.

  “Oh, no, no, no. Please just call me Ember. I’m no Lord or Lady.” Ember said with a nervous laugh while trying to not break eye contact.

  “Ah, my apologies. I assumed that you were from a noble or high ranking family.” The new girl said with her hands raised placatingly. Even though the rest of her body visibly relaxed with the clarification of her status. “It isn't often that you meet someone with a family name that doesn’t try to flaunt their status around in some way or another.” She then pointed at Thorn. “He doesn't count though. Thorn has been hanging out around the guild since I joined up and is known to only be interested in unique or dangerous magic.” She ended with a small chortle.

  Ember joined with a giggle and a nod. “Yeah, I've seen a little bit of that when I got a new weird skill on my last level up. Right after I described it to him he was ready to go start our latest quest, but I'm pretty sure he was just trying to test what my new skill did. Which, I honestly can’t say I wasn't feeling just as excited to play around with it.”

  Thorn shifted uncomfortably in his seat while the two girls talked about him as if he wasn't sitting in the chair beside Ember’s. He then cleared his throat in an attempt to bring them back on topic, or at least off of the topic of him.

  The new girl noticed Thorn shifting in his seat and reluctantly shifted the conversation back on topic. “Ah, I'm sorry I didn't give a proper introduction. I am Mary, light and life affinity, and I'm shooting for a non priest or cleric healing class.” She gave a seated bow before she then gestured to the man sitting beside her.

  He stood a full head above Mary even while seated. He had a strong jawline and a sharp gaze. His hair was the same black as Mary's but unlike her relaxed straight hair his was medium length shaggy and a wild mess. His eyes were the same color as Mary’s as well. “This is my brother, Crag. He has a very high affinity with earth and a low life affinity as well. He’s going to be the best turtle to come out of this town.” Mary gave Crag a light punch in the shoulder before continuing. “That's the general info about the two of us. I can't speak for the other person joining us here though. This is my first time having a conversation with him.” Mary slowly shifted her gaze to land on the final newcomer.

  Ember and Thorn followed her eyes to the last one to introduce themselves. As soon as Ember paid attention to the final man joining them she noticed the oddity of his skin color and texture. He had a slight gray and bronze skin tone and had a texture reminiscent of the small bumpy looking scales of an iguana. She looked up to see his eye color and was greeted by his reptilian-like, amber colored, and slit pupiled gaze. After she realized she was staring at him she blushed slightly and gave him a polite nod and a sheepish wave.

  He gave a soft smile to Ember before speaking to the group. “Hi. I am Zaz. As you can see I am halfling, my father is human and my mother is from the Naga Tribe. I have shadow affinity and I see myself as a scout but I'm hoping to lean into a more assassin or stealth damage build as I progress. System willing.”

  ‘Oh my god, we found a snake man rogue. That’s so cool!’ Ember thought to herself. ‘I wonder if his reptilian heritage or shadow affinity will give him an active camouflage or invisibility skill. Light and Life also sound like interesting affinities to use. I bet they mesh well. Bahh, now I’m curious how earth and life mesh together. Wait, wouldn't that just be nature affinity? ugh… I doubt I'lll understand how affinities and mana work anytime soon.’

  “Excellent.” Thorn announced with a clap of his hands. “Now that we have general introductions down, I would like to discuss the job at hand. Ember and I have taken a job to hunt and eliminate a group of crystal jellies that have infested a pond to the north.”

  “Wait.” Crag interrupted. “You're requesting a group for a couple of crystal jellies? The same jellies that will stand still and let you hack away at them without even defending themselves?”

  Thorn shot an annoyed look at Crag before he replied. “Yes. We are looking for a group to help us clear out a pond filled with organized crystal jellies. When we left we were able to see them moving around the pond like a patrol checking out the perimeter. If it was just a group of wandering jellies that came out I would have stayed and cleared the pond with Ember. The only reason we are requesting help is…” Thorn looked around to see if anyone was eavesdropping on them. He lowered his voice and continued. “I'm fairly certain this pond has become the spawning pool of a Crystal Crown. That is the only explanation I can come to that explains the high number of jellies that have been seen and the organized and intentional movements we witnessed.”

  The table grew quiet while the newcomers digested the information. The first to speak up was Mary. “You know Crystal Crowns are first tier right. Not just first tier but a special first tier beast. It is at a minimum level ten… so that’s the first red flag. It is a first evolution beast which on its own is worthy of the second red flag but it is also a final evolution beast which is much stronger than a standard first tier.” She lowered her head and rubbed her temples. “I don't mean this to come off as rude but what level are you two? I know where my brother and I stand when it comes to a fight but I haven’t seen either of you fight. Do you believe that you can take out a level ten first tier beast with the aid of only the three of us?”

  Thorn leaned over to Ember and whispered so only they could hear. “Are you ok with giving out your level? I don't really mind telling them mine. But, while I understand why you're at your current level they will most likely assume that you are a sheltered noble acting like you're not.”

  Ember nodded. “Yeah, I don't mind. I still find it weird that everyone hides their levels instead of seeing them walk around boasting about it.”

  Thorn shook his head at her reply. “Alright. To answer your questions I am level five and Ember here is level two. I do think we can take down this Crystal Crown if we all team up. I was honestly only looking for two people to begin with, but I'm not so stupid that I would pass up on a meeting with a turtle and his pocket medic. Not to forget the shadow scout here as well. I think with the five of us working together one Crystal Crown and her baby jellies won't be enough to stop us. We will have to use our brains and plan out how we will do this and not just run in spells blazing… as much fun as that would be…” He let out a small nervous laugh. “Anyways, with Crag drawing everyone's attention as our turtle I trust myself to dish out serious damage to any target I take. I also trust that Ember will be able to control the movements of the smaller enemies while the rest of us focus on damaging the Crown Jelly. We should be able to make good time on our approach with a scout to lead the way plus with how you mentioned assassination skills I'll assume you can target or point out weak spots on our enemies. So yes… I think we will do very well on this with the correct team. Though while we are asking questions I have one I would like to ask as well. I won't ask what your skills are but do you even have anything for healing yet? I have heard most healing skills don't show up until after the class trial, something about healing and restoration being too advanced or mana heavy for lower level unclassed to cast correctly.”

  Mary grew red. “I… you see… yes, but…” She stammered.

  “Thorn.” Crag started. “You trust your low level friend here to control the movements on the battlefield but you question the strength of my sister, who is three times your friend's level.”

  Mary straightened in her chair and cleared her throat. “To answer you, yes,” She paused to look around. “I do have a healing skill already.”

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  Thorns eyes grew wide with surprise. “I… Congratulations, that is quite the achievement for anyone to hit. I have only met one other person to be offered a class skill while still unclassed. But I won't go into details on someone else's background.”

  “Thank you.” Mary replied with a genuine smile on her face. “I know my affinities had a hand in me being offered a skill like that but I still think it was mostly luck that I was actually offered one.”

  Crag snorted, which drew everyone's attention to him. “Luck? You don't think the years of going around playing doctor and taking care of all your sick or injured friends had anything to do with it?”

  “Crag!” She shouted and hit his arm. “They didn't need to know any of that did they?”

  Crag shrugged and shot her a devious grin.

  Ember cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. “I think we have enough details for the two of you to decide if y’all would like to join us or not. As for you Zaz, I personally would love it if you would join us. Based solely on what you've told us already I think you would be an asset for us. Plus… A shadow assassin scout sounds badass.” She giggled at the end.

  Zaz's gray bronze cheeks started to grow slightly purple as blushed from Ember's assessment of him. “I am definitely interested in seeing a Crystal Crown with my own eyes. That being said, I am also cautious. I know of the strength and resilience behind an earth turtle but,” Zaz’s sharp gaze fell on Crag. “Do you trust yourself to defend two level sixes, a level five, and a level two?”

  “Yes.” Crags answer was short but it oozed confidence. “I have no doubt in my own abilities. I have defended not just myself but also my sister as we have leveled here. Now with my sister being level six and needing someone to defend her while she leveled and assist in damaging her foes for her first two levels, how much stronger do you think that would place me?” Crag leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I've recently turned level nine.” He paused to let it sink in while giving everyone a smirk. “I plan to wait for my sister to catch up to me before I undergo my class trial though. We plan to take our trials together if the system allows it. Mary swears that since we have been a team since level one it wouldn't split us up if we started together. I still hold to the old belief that everyone has their own trial. One made specifically for them to harness all their strengths and to understand and surpass all of your weaknesses.”

  Ember looked around the table at everyones expressions. Thorn had an excited gleam in his eyes, although he tried to mask it behind questioning eyebrows. ‘Ha, I bet he's excited to see how strong someone at level nine is or what kind of skills a physical combat type would get compared to our magic based skills.’ Ember thought to herself. Mary had a sheepish demeanor about her but she seemed to grow more confident as her brother spoke. ‘I'm excited to work with a healer but I do get her skepticism. I wouldn't trust a level two and five to be able to hold their own against a level ten anything let alone a final evolution. Even if it's slime.’ Next she glanced over to Crag. He had a smug look on his face but she thought he also looked like he might be using that to cover another emotion she couldn't quite place. ‘Hmm… He's confident, that's for sure. But there is something else there… is he nervous about something? Maybe he’s scared of something? Bah! I don't know him well enough to tell just from his face alone.’ She lightly shook her head then turned to glance at Zaz. ‘Badass shadow assassin snake man has my vote… I wonder what his scales feel like… are they smooth or rough? stationary or plated?’ She stopped her current train of thought when she saw that Zaz was now looking at her as well. She turned her head away while her cheeks grew warm from the embarrassment she felt after being caught staring a second time before she cleared silence with a cough.

  “So…” Ember started. “I know I'm the lowest level here but I think the five of us would make a good team. Crag is not only the highest leveled person I've met in the guild but I'm willing to bet if he doesn't already his life affinity is going to give him crazy potential as a future tank. Mary, not only do you have a good head on your shoulders but you took control of the conversation when we all got started and you represented your brother to us without any complaints from him as far as i could tell. If your healing skill isn't already great I'm sure it will be and I would be happy to help you train it while we are out on jobs. But don't take that as if I'm going to go looking for fights to take damage. I'm not crazy enough for that but I'm sure even little cuts and scratches from the thorns and stuff would count as some skill experience.” She then looked at Zaz again before she gave him a small nod. “Zaz, truthfully I just want you to join us because you seem interesting and you're a badass shadow assassin scout.”

  Thorn and Crag both snickered at Ember's final confession while Mary and Ember both grew redder. Ember from the embarrassment she was now feeling as her words registered in her head. Mary on the other hand was growing red due to the romance fantasy based around Ember and Zaz she had playing through her mind.

  Zaz was the first to speak up after Ember. “I find this job and group to be interesting. I'm not agreeing to a full time party formation, but I am open to a Short term group hunt to test the waters and what better way to test it out than on a Crystal Crown and her spawning pool.”

  Crag then raised his hand in the air. “I second that. I'm not agreeing to anything long term but I am interested in seeing what this little team up might lead us to. Not to mention I doubt I would get any good turtle classes without acting as a turtle for a full party at least once. No offense to my little sis but I think if i took my class trial now i would only get defender or guard classes. something more focused on protecting a single target not a fhull group or more.”

  “No, I get it.” Mary agreed with her brother. “I'm afraid that if I don't work in a group more often I might get saddled with a doctor or priest class and not the combat healer class I want.” She then looked around the table locking eyes with everyone once. “So I guess what we are saying is… that we are in. If you'll have us.”

  The smile growing on Thorn's face was bright enough the whole room could see how happy he was from just a glance. “Excellent, excellent. I'm so happy to have the three of you on board with us.” Thorn then stood from his seat and walked around the table to shake each of their hands before returning to his seat. “One last thing I would like to discuss, now that we will be working together. I personally believe we should use a need over greed, evenly split party funds. If we come across an item that is beneficial to you specifically then it is yours but one item per rotation. So if I get an item for this job because I need it but next job there is another item I need then I would have to buy the item out of the group funds until everyone else in the group has claimed one item as well. Oh and by a group fund I mean all loot we find that isn’t needed by anyone specifically will be sold to the guild when we get back and the rewards from the job plus the payout for the loot would then be split evenly amongst the group.”

  “I can agree to that.” Crag said

  “Sounds fair to me.” Mary replied.

  “I like it, but I would like to offer an amendment. How do you feel about making the number of items each person can claim as a needed item two instead of one. For example what if we found a light essence crystal that you claim as a needed item but then at a later point we come across a unique grade lightning staff. Neither item would be worth more than the rest of the group's loot combined so wouldn't it be easier to be able to claim the two of them before a full rotation?” Added Zaz.

  “I agree, I think that having the option for a second item would not only be helpful to everyone but it would also lower the stress from deciding if an item is worth using your one and only need for.” Ember stated in agreement.

  “I can agree to that, less stress is best.” Mary agreed as well.

  “Well I guess that's that.” Thorn stated. “Three out of five agree on the alteration of one item to two. Following the law of majority rules I hereby accept this alteration.” Thorn said as professional and businesslike as he could manage before a cheeky grin broke through his facade and he started to laugh.

  “Well if everything is settled for now how does tomorrow morning sound to all of you?” Mary asked. “Crag and I will need to go do some shopping to prepare for this job and I'm sure the rest of you would like to take some time to prepare as well.”

  “Ooh yess!” Ember agreed vehemently. “I still need to go see Tila to pick up my previous clothing order and place a new one.”

  “Clothing?” Mary asked with an eyebrow raised.

  “Yes!” Ember agreed. “Tila works at a tailor shop in town. She does great work and is super nice. I'm probably going to go there as soon as we finish up here if you want to join me?”

  Mary's eyes shone with excitement. She looked over to her brother who gave her a laugh and nodded back at her. “Well, it looks like Crag can do his own shopping today so I would absolutely love to join you!” She replied, almost shaking with anticipation.

  “Hah! Okay. Unless anyone else has anything they would like toadd or say I think Mary and I are going to head out to the tailor.” Ember asked while trying to hold back her laughter at Mary's reaction to be invited out. With a nod or wave from the rest of the table Ember and Mary said their goodbyes before Mary drug Ember out of the guild by the arm only stopping once she made it out the door.

  “Oh… umm… I don't know where we are going.” Mary said with a giggle. She let go of Ember's arm and stepped behind her. “Lead the way.” She said with a smile and a lite push on Ember's back to get her moving. They continued to the store in that formation laughing and getting to know one another better.